1. Pandorica Opens/Big Bang
This episode is grandiose in scale; a finale two part episode concluding with the Big Bang. What's great about this episode is that it pulls together elements from other episodes. Over arcing themes are prevalent in Moffat's era; many have issues with that but I think it is great storytelling. Starting off, we find out that Vincent Van Gogh has painted a portrait of the TARDIS exploding. It comes to River Song's attention and she connects with the Doctor. The Pandorica is a prison which in stories, has been told to hold the universe's most deadly being. They go to Stonehenge where the Pandorica resides and find that it is transmitting a beacon that is bringing all of the Doctor's enemies to Earth. The Doctor threatens them all, trying to buy time to figure out what is happening. (As speeches go, this one is pretty epic -- Kudos Matt Smith!) River finds out that the Pandorica is a trap created out of Amy's memories. The Doctor warns River to leave, but she is trapped in the TARDIS. In a previous episode Rory has been deleted from existence by the crack in Amy's wall, which is a crack in time. However, Rory now appears as a Roman soldier. Amy ends up remembering Rory, but he is an Auton programmed to kill her. All the Doctors enemies come down and imprison him in the Pandorica. River is trapped, Amy is dead and the Doctor imprisoned. High drama! So when Big Bang opens and we find that the Pandorica is now in a British Museum that opens at the touch of little Amelia Pond and inside is adult Amy Pond; I can tell you I was screaming and jumping up and down with the episode originally aired. If ever there was a timey wimey episode it was Big Bang. With the Time Vortex manipulator the Doctor pops back and forth so that he can save himself, Amy and the universe. There was so much back and forth that my head hurt for trying to keep up with it. But ultimately they need to create a Big Bang 2 in order to set things right. When they do that, the Doctor ends up being on the wrong side of the fix and we fear we may have to say farewell to our beloved hero. He does a time rewind and in a stroke of writing that is so clever, Moffat takes us to a previous episode "Flesh and Stone." Many thought it was a continuity error, but by god Moffat had enough forethought to plant that particular moment. The man is a genius! Now that the universe is fixed, Amy has her parents back and it's finally her and Rory's big wedding day. She keeps feeling like there is something that she has forgotten. Something remembered is never truly forgotten? She see River's diary, but the pages are blank. Amy remembers the Doctor, declares that he is late for her wedding and the TARDIS materializes! The Doctor comes out. "OK Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?" The Doctor says, "Yeah, completely astonished. Never expected that." Oh how good was this finale? This was my favorite and stands as my number one even though Tennant wasn't in it. That's saying something for me. What's your favorite? It's all I can do to hold onto my sanity waiting for the 50th anniversary special. I'm looking forward to what Moffat has in store and pray that it does justice to fifty years' worth of Doctor Who. In the meantime I'll continue to enjoy my episodes on DVD and try not to incessantly pick out what may or may not be clues to the future episode. Sigh.... November 23rd is so far away!!!